Jeff Stevens Creative

In the creative business you always hear about hiring people that are better than you. Or more appropriately, hire those who scare the bejesus out of you. I had no idea what that meant until I met Ben Little some 12 plus years ago. I met Ben my first month in London, he was in his mid 20’s and already a charismatic force that both attracted and created game changing ideas and talented people who wanted to work on them. His company, Fearlessly Frank that he runs with his partner Wayne Guthrie, offers the perfect mix of stellar creative and inspirational business leadership. They do everything from start ups to multinationals. Ben and I talk about how the agency got started, found their independence, and how he took this notion of being Fearlessly Frank with clients into becoming one of the largest innovation consultancy's in the UK. Check them out fearlesslyfrank.com

Write Way Round. Tom Hodgson has a story to tell. I’m in London this week and was lucky enough to cast some pod with various creative types and gangsters that I’ve worked with over the years. There was no one better to catch up with then the screenwriter Tom Hodgson. Giving him that title has a long time coming, as Tom has wound his way through film development, copywriting, strategy, digital content directing and finally and most fittingly, to becoming a writer. Tom’s second feature film, The Hippopotamus, adapted from the Stephen Fry's bestseller, is screening next week and will be out in the US next year. Check Tom out here: www.corhampton.com  Follow him as well Twitter (@thodgo) 

Punk Rock Post If DIY is the Punk Rock ethos, then rukus is the kind of production house that breaks out and builds a t-shirt wearing cult following by making great music and working their asses off. Celebrating their sixth year in business, Michael Hurst talks about being thrown in the deep end and surviving, evolving into an Executive Producer and his observations on the state of the St. Louis Ad Scene as he wraps up his Ad Club Presidency. Look out for their Anniversary Party coming soon. The ruckus reel: http://rukuspost.com/project/showreel/ Music by Flaming Death Trap

The Ministers of Sound - Mark Bartels of 90dw and Mike Radentz of Antidote. Sound, I would argue, might be the most overlooked, vitally important, and very mysterious aspect of any production. Yet, when it's done well, it can take something good and make it a thing of beauty. Mark and Mike talk to Jeff about their craft, their tricks, favorite movies and go to sound effects. Enjoy the finest sounding podcast of all time! Music by John Williams as played by Mark Bartels, Mike Radentz and Flaming Death Trap.

Peace, Bread and Social Enterprise. 'A-ha' moments can arise at any time, anywhere. For Markey Culver, it was when she found herself hungry while walking back and forth between her house and the school where she taught English in a small East African village. Markey tells the fascinating story that led her to create The Women's Bakery - a vocational school that teaches the women of Rwanda and Tanzania to bake bread for themselves and for profit. Have a listen to how this remarkable social enterprise got started. http://www.womensbakery.com/

Meet the Method Ad Man. The longer Wade is in the business, the more he wants to stay close to the work. As a founder of the agency Grenadier in Boulder (named after the elite senior troops that led the great armies of the last century), Wade and his colleagues are operating against the age old agency principle: As soon as you become great at creative, you get bumped up to management and stop doing creative. They all still get their hands dirty. Wade talks to Jeff about his journey from Lawrence, Kansas through LA, St. Louis (at Core) Boston and now Boulder. We touch on creative account people, young 'writers' who don’t want to do the work, how Core taught him to be a Method Ad Man and advice on starting your own shop. Check out his shop here: http://www.grenadierco.com/ Music by Flaming Death Trap

SPACE RACE. Matt Homann is fixing your sucky meeting. Too many meetings. It’s on everyone’s short list of things we complain about at work. Start late. No agenda. Somebody with a 167-slide deck trying to show how smart they are. The last hour, wondering if you stabbed yourself in the eye with your pen, would that be enough to end the meeting? Please, stop the torture. Matt Homann and Filament, believe they have the answer. With 10,000 square feet of inspiring meeting space on 15th and Washington, they want to change the way meetings are designed by helping facilitate your meetings outcome. http://www.thefilament.com/ http://www.thefilament.com/manifesto/ https://invisiblegirlfriend.com/

The Data Whisperer. Jenny Dibble knows your KPI's. In a world full of data, those who can make sense of it have the advantage. Jenny has made a career of doing just that. From building and selling her first agency in Seattle, to her stints at Amazon, Coolfire and Brighton, to her new venture, Creative Anvil, Jenny tells Jeff about SaaS tools, vanity metrics and how to use data to make better decisions. http://creativeanvil.com/ http://www.readybuild.com/ http://www.wnyc.org/shows/notetoself

Kay Cochran is Smoking. One of the original RT'ers, she was employee 006, Kay tells Jeff about the agency as it approaches 20 years, working with up and comers and what goes into a great campaign. Links to stuff we talk about https://vimeo.com/142153758 Music by Flaming Death Trap

Creative Disrupter. John Dames brings in the big guns. There aren’t that many creatives in town that I truly have portfolio envy over. John Dames is one of them. From being CORE number 001, to directing and designing epic videos, to helping Special Forces do their jobs, John tells Jeff about firing clients, doing it all wrong and having the balls to create without limits. Here’s some links to stuff we talk about Gucci https://vimeo.com/14949511 Custom software https://vimeo.com/15271957 Malice https://vimeo.com/55460671 Balls Video https://vimeo.com/27382812 Ambient Content Series Cats https://vimeo.com/5300322 Paintings https://vimeo.com/5246399 Dancers https://vimeo.com/5246256 Angel https://vimeo.com/15289803 Playground https://vimeo.com/15290235

Enjoy my highly relevant and enlightening conversation with Ryan Brown where we discuss in no particular order: The Adjacent Possible and how you need to start rubbing shoulders with everyone a whole lot more. Placing Small Bets and then rigorously testing and adjusting the results. The Way of Being Relevant, Ryan's four part breakdown of the very word in every client brief. The Manifest Platform, how this digital shop wants to be the place to connect everyone's ideas to clients. And growing up on the wrong side of the Tracks in South Bend, Indiana. Have a listen! Some links: http://manifest.com/ https://hbr.org/2011/08/finding-your-next-big-adjacent Music by Flaming Death Trap

Meet the Designer. You've heard of design thinking, Mike Spakowski is a true practitioner and connoisseur. As founder and creative director at Atomicdust and Chairman of Design Week, Mike tells Jeff about his journey from tinkering with computers to founding his shop and the design centric, collaborative way he approaches his work and the St. Louis design scene. Check them out: http://www.atomicdust.com/ music by Flaming Death Trap

One of the best parts of St. Louis and doing this Podcast is finally getting to meet someone you’ve heard about for years but never met. The town is the exact size for these encounters to happen often. Just large enough where you can’t know everyone, but small enough to where you know someone who does I had the pleasure of meeting Elizabeth Tucker of ALIVE, a person who fits this description to a T. She started Alive Magazine with Attilio D’Agostino in 2002 with a bang. They immediately found an underserved-and-lifestyle-aware scene in St. Louis and have helped evolve that very scene ever since. They created Fashion Week in 2007, and brought back a fashion scene to the city. With the recent redesign of the magazine and the launching of an agency, ALIVE is as interesting as ever. Elizabeth tells Jeff about her beginnings, Attlio’s nutritional supplement speech to stay in St. Louis, how to live by the Golden Rule and how to divergent thinking keeps her fresh. And where she went to High School! Links: Here

If every arts scene needs it's patron to thrive, Susan Sherman is certainly on a very short list for the role. For 25 years she's worked to help make our performing and visual arts community a vital part of this city. Now she's tackling her biggest challenge - bringing back the fashion business. Susan tells Jeff all about the St. Louis Fashion Fund and it's signature project, The Fashion Incubator. https://saintlouisfashionfund.org/

Allan Meyerson has brought his New York edge and helped build one of the biggest and most successful agencies in St. Louis. He's surrounded by great talent, big clients and a shop thats found its groove. Allan talks to Jeff about his no nonsense approach to building a great creative culture and his journey from the New York shop with his name on the door to putting down roots here in the Lou.

Take me to Church. Matt Miofsky has become a man of God. He leads a vibrant and growing Church in St. Louis. But before all that he was an theoretical math major at Wash U looking for someplace to channel his creativity. Matt talks to Jeff about his journey, his storytelling process and how a quirky spirit can lead you to fulfillment down the road less traveled.

Mixology and cocktail culture is everywhere, it's one of the most creative spaces being explored. The most creative of these spirits? It might just be Gin. No one in the world has a better handle on this effervescent spirit than Natasha Bahrami, The Gin Girl and namesake of the St. Louis Institution, Cafe Natasha. http://www.natashasginroom.com/ http://cafenatasha.com/ Music by Flaming Death Trap

What does it take to lead an agency? These are the folks who know the answer. Annie Castellano - Senior Vice President/Executive Creative Director at ITC Stacey Goldman - Principal/Chief Strategist/Cannonball Gus Hatrich - President at Paradowski Creative Allan Meyerson - Senior Vice President/Executive Creative Director at Group 360

New Honor Society's Holly Aguirre and Heidi Singleton (Hi Ho) are building great agency culture. From the disparate pieces of Zip and Rivet, they've found their soul and are bringing inspiring marketing to brands and the St. Louis agency scene.

We asked the town for the rising stars of 2016. This is who they sent us. Check out the young guns, where did they come from and where are they headed? Bri Gilomen – Junior Creative Project Manager at FH Jerry McNeive - Digital Production Developer/Designer at Rodgers Townsend Rebekah Nelson - Video Editor/Production Artist at H & L Partners Justin Striebel – Art Director at HLK Kelcey Towell - Designer at TOKY